Why is Haiti the way that it is, anyhow? Do they simply lack the infrastructure to support corportations coming in and abusing workers out of poverty, or do they actually have laws or ideals that work against them?

Alonjar:Why is Haiti the way that it is, anyhow? Do they simply lack the infrastructure to support corportations coming in and abusing workers out of poverty, or do they actually have laws or ideals that work against them?

/Serious question

I was wondering that myself seeing as their neighbor doesn't seem to have near as many problems as they do

I was there in January, and pretty much this. People ask me what Haiti needs to do... I have no clue. The culture and government are so dysfunctional it's hard to accomplish small things let alone massive civil projects. It's not entirely their fault - they've been abused for centuries by other cultures. But now what? How do you instill work ethic, pride, and long-term planning into a culture that's been cheated for generations?

The electrical grid is the simplest example. Port Au Prince has electricity and some water/sewer, but between the earthquake and general poor maintenance, it's in bad shape. The power goes out daily, often for hours at a time. Repair would be expensive... but theft is common. A high percentage of connected users are not actually paying for it, so there's not even enough income to cover operating costs, let alone expansion. The money and resources pretty much need to come from outside, and most of the world isn't in a good position right now to dramatically boost aid. Any serious electrical users have their own generators, and with no emissions regulations, it makes the air quality problem even worse.

However, you're on the right track. "Digicel" is clearly the massive employer down there (everyone has a cell phone, basically no landlines) and the Digicel logo is painted on every corner. The city couldn't even get street signs installed, so Digicel did it - with their logo on top. The CEO (not Haitian) seems aggressively committed to exposing fraud and inefficiency in the government and frequently puts his money where his mouth is. They're still a for-profit business, but a few more corporations like that are about their only hope.

Alonjar:Why is Haiti the way that it is, anyhow? Do they simply lack the infrastructure to support corportations coming in and abusing workers out of poverty, or do they actually have laws or ideals that work against them?

I have only been to Haiti once, but to build on Digidorm's comments - they have very little legal and goverment infrastructure that would incent businesses to development there. Their "French provincial" land laws, without clear title, result in if you buy land / develop it, someone can come along and say "hey that was inherited by me, not my cousin you bought it from". See economist articles. (Land is handed down to all heirs in split fashion, but no title or record of which one gets what.)

Add in a totally corrupt government (after the earthquake - heavy machinery - bulldozers, trucks, all free relief aid, sat on the docks until the bribes were paid to clear customs.) And you can't skip the bribe because the boss of the bribe taker will presume they stole the bribe. Corruption in government, graft, unclear land laws - on top of the culture of 100s of years of Digidorms depiction.

And, amazingly, it used to the "the pearl of the carribean" - the harbor around port O prince is unmatched in beauty as is the country.

There has been some progress since the earthquake, but glacial paced. Don't throw too many stones, even in the US with all our resources, more stable and less corrupt government, there are parts of New Orleans that are still urban refuse.